Gov. Rick Perry has a problem with state Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, and it's one he can't resolve with one of his folksy one-liners.
"We come here to work," an irritated Perry said Monday as it was becoming clear that Davis had killed an off-kilter school finance bill with a late-Sunday filibuster. "We didn't come here to be show horses."Aside from the fact that here in Fort Worth we appreciate people who show horses, given the impact they have on the local economy through the tourism impact of their shows, Perry clearly should recast his assessment of Davis.She was working. Her filibuster was well thought out and clearly effective in forcing the issue into a special legislative session. The governor doesn't have to like it, but he shouldn't be so pouty when he's beaten.Davis' legislative maneuver was justified logically, because the now-dead bill perpetuated the sharp inequities of the current school finance plan. That plan is derived from 2006 legislation that based each local school district's state funding on a snapshot of the revenue they received at the time. That was advantageous for some but not others, and it resulted in wide per-student income differences between districts.The filibuster worked strategically, because it forced a re-evaluation of the plan, which was unveiled in the 11th hour of the legislative session that ended Monday. The plan had been put together behind closed doors and faced no public hearings and no opportunity for legislators to hear what their constituents thought of it. New hearings are scheduled to begin today.It became clearer Tuesday that the filibuster also worked tactically. Those legislators who, like Davis, oppose the school finance plan as it had been drafted have lost nothing because of the shift to a special session.For Davis, the filibuster should help politically. She showed her fellow senators and the people of Fort Worth that she will stand up and fight. That sort of thing commands respect.Perry's condescending "show horses" comment is troubling. He should want to get school funding right, and he should want the Legislature to work on it in a transparent way.Perry made no derogatory comments two years ago, when Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, threatened to filibuster a transportation bill and forced a special session. He doesn't talk down to strong women in the Senate like Florence Shapiro, R-Plano; Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound; Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo; or Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio.Davis told the Texas Tribune recently that, when she was a freshman in 2009, one senator called her "little lady" when addressing a comment to her. No one should do that.Lawmakers should start over on school finance. Redrafting the filibustered bill and attempting to rush it through won't do. The new version should show a clear break from the current plan, with at least a timetable for eliminating its inequities.At least $6 billion is available in the state's rainy-day fund, part of which could be used to balance a new school finance plan.Revenue is available through such measures as eliminating the special tax breaks given to producers of "high-cost" natural gas in the Barnett Shale.Perry included revisions to the state's Medicaid program in the special session. He might add reworking the windstorm insurance plan and congressional redistricting.There's time to get all of that done and to do it well.Davis has shown, emphatically and wisely, that she can be a power player. She should keep it up.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
